What Amazon has done almost a decade ago with it’s associates program, eBay has just started! The writing is perhaps on the wall, after eBay’s PayPal got threatened by Google’s Checkout, eBay has reduced it’s ad spending with Google and in addition, perhaps realized that running an in-house affiliate program, like what Amazon has been doing so long, is the right move.
Personal experience had been that I am able to do a lot better with Amazon associate program than those affiliate programs that are offered through middlemen like Commission Junction (CJ) and others. So, now that eBay has it’s own affiliate program, perhaps it’s time to start looking more seriously into it.
The other big player that should have invested in own affiliate program but has not done so far is WalMart. If they want to remain competitive in the online space, they got to do it.
I was saying the same exact thing about Circuit City, and look at them now. It’s funny how the brick and mortar stores weren’t the first to mimic Amazon’s online affiliate success.
Comment by purewebdev — December 9, 2008 @ 2:24 am